NFG with a can of worms question

Yep, I'm the NFG. I have lurked around your site here and I am impressed with the level of knowledge found here. I am going to buy an FAL, I just don't know when and which one. I do not feel like I am even remotely qualified to build one, so I will have get a store bought rifle. I am sure that each of you has a personal preference and that htis may well start a lot an argument, but here are my questions:

I have the money to buy a CAI from J&G but there is some negativity about the quality of the CAI brand. Would it be better to wait until I have enough to buy a better quality rifle? This may take a year or more and I'm a married man. My wife keeps wanting to blow it on bills.

I have gotten the impression that the CAI guns are either really good or a POS depending on the condition of the parts used to assemble them. Which am I more likely to get a good parts set in, a metric or inch FAL? Which is more likely to have a bunch of worn out crap installed? Is one newer or less likely to be badly worn than the other?

I hope someone can answer your questions with detail, I can't. But if you think your going to get a CIA know what to check and how to do it, if the seller won't let you do so, leave it and find another.

"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem" Ronald Reagan

I'm pretty much a babe in the woods when it comes to these rifles so about the only way that I know to check it is load it up, shoot it, count my fingers afterward. If there are 10 and the gun reloads and shoots again, it must be O.K. Other than that I don't have a clue as to what to check. Does anyone have a check list?

Thanks for the advice. From my perspective it looks like the CAI from J&G is about the best offer out there. There are a whole pack of pirahnas at Gunbroker that want anywhere from $50 to $200 more for the same rifle that J&G offers. I guess that they figure that if they add a couple of $10 mags and run 300 or 400 rounds through it that they can up the price some. I really llike the dsa guns, but it is going to be awfully hard for me to find the additional $300 to $400 for the DSA. I'm still not committed to any one gun though.

the CAI might be good enough though.in spite of all the horror stories CAI does turn out a few decent examples.

i would give J&G a call and see what their return policy was. J&G is usually pretty up front on those kind of things. just ask them if this expensive CIA rifle don't live up to what a FAL is supposed to be can i return it and get my $$ back or something else?

I'm not gonna lie, when I get around to building my FAL, I'll be going through the headache of "finish" machining a CAI FAL receiver. For $100 bucks out the door with a lower attached I couldn't pass it up. My barrel times well, too!

I'm cheap, and willing to work on a gun, even if it is "beyond" my skill, I will learn, or jerry rig, and it shall work. Been working with my CAI CETME so far.

Go to the FalFiles and search on Century Fals. There are whole threads on what can (or usually is) wrong with them and how to fix them. Headspacing issues and barrel timing issues are the usual complaints as I recall.

Also, check out the Marketplace, you can get some great deals on FAL's right now.